All posts tagged Susan Rice

Top policy makers, politicians and national security officials are convening in Washington on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the outlook for the newly elected Congress, security challenges, taxes, financial regulation and more. Read More »

U.S. lawmakers are voicing concern and criticism over warming ties between the Obama administration and Iran, calling it a strategic miscalculation and an affront to Washington’s decades-long alliance with Israel.

Pointing to potential consequences, members of Congress are demanding greater oversight of negotiations now nearing the final stages between Iran and global powers seeking to curtail Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for an easing of Western sanctions. The two sides are working toward a Nov. 24 deadline. Read More »

Arizona Sen. John McCain, a leading Republican critic of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, remains unconvinced that Islamic militants marching across Syria and Iraq can be stopped without American ground troops.

“First of all, They’re winning and we’re not,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” “There has to be a fundamental re-evaluation of what we’re doing because we are not–we are not degrading and ultimately destroying ISIS.”

Mr. McCain has been calling for American ground troops in the region for weeks.

Administration officials are standing by Mr. Obama’s promise that the U.S. won’t engage in a ground war. U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the three-week old campaign of airstrikes is “off to a strong start” and described it as a long-term effort to support Iraqi fighting forces on the ground. Read More »

U.S. lawmakers from both parties voiced strong support of Israel and its right to defend itself against Hamas on Monday, affirming their commitment to Israel even as the Obama administration has expressed impatience with the Israeli offensive in Gaza. Read More »

Egypt is, again, a dictatorship, proven by gross injustice and absurdly counterproductive behavior in the year since its latest military coup. Just weeks after sentencing some 1,200 people to death in mass trials, the judiciary has sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to seven years in prison, allegedly for supporting terrorism and aiding the Muslim Brotherhood by interviewing members. Evidence in the trial was flimsy to the point of laughable. The sentences were tragically ridiculous. One journalist received an additional three years for being in possession of a single spent bullet, a souvenir. As Amnesty International noted, journalism is not a crime. Read More »

Susan Rice, the White House national security adviser who has long been a GOP lightning rod, Friday defended herself against criticism for saying that U.S. Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl served “with honor and distinction” in Afghanistan.

In an interview with CNN, Ms. Rice stood by her words even after questions have been raised about whether Mr. Bergdahl was a deserter because he left post in Afghanistan before being captured by the Taliban. Read More »

On a day of talk about swapping Guantanamo prisoners to free a U.S. solider; the Veterans Affairs scandal, and Hillary Clinton’s possible run for president, here are Washington Wire’s top five quotes from the Sunday talk shows:

1) “We have a sacred obligation that we have upheld since the founding of our republic to do our utmost to bring back our men and women who were taken in battle. And we did that in this instance.” – National Security Adviser Susan Rice, discussing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s release on ABC’s “This Week.”

2) “Across northern Africa, the No. 1 way that al-Qaeda raises money is by ransom. Kidnapping and ransom. We have now set a price.” – House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) on the Bergdahl matter on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

3) “We found an opportunity. We took that opportunity. I’ll stand by that decision. I signed off on the decision. The president made the ultimate decision.” – Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, on the Bergdahl prisoner swap on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”Read More »

A top Obama administration official on Sunday defended the prisoner exchange that freed a U.S. soldier, as Republican lawmakers chided the administration for failing to notify Congress and said the move signaled that terrorists can obtain a hefty ransom for seizing American hostages.

White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice said the U.S. didn’t inform Congress in advance so as not to jeopardize the chance of freeing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who had been held captive for five years. Ms. Rice, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” acknowledged that the Obama administration began notifying members of Congress after “the deal was done” and Sgt. Bergdahl was back in U.S. hands.

Republican lawmakers have said the Obama administration, in securing Sgt. Bergdahl’s return, violated a law that requires Congress receive advance notice prior to the transfer of prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. But Ms. Rice said U.S. officials, had they complied with that provision, might have missed the chance to retrieve Sgt. Bergdahl.

“What we put the highest premium on was the safety of Sgt. Bergdahl,” she said. “This was very held closely within the administration. We could not take any risks with losing the opportunity to bring him back safely.” Read More »

Stories about perilously long wait times at Department of Veterans Affairs facilities are the latest chapter in President Barack Obama being mad about something.

Mr. Obama hasn’t said so himself yet, but White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough took to CNN Thursday to say that “nobody’s more mad than the president.” Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters the president is “concerned and angry” about the situation. Read More »

White House documents obtained under court order and released Wednesday provide new evidence of high-level White House concern over fallout from anti-American protests that were underway around the time of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other U.S. citizens in Benghazi, Libya.

The documents have refocused Republicans and Obama administration critics on the period of time between the Benghazi attack on Sept. 11 and television appearances by then-United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice on Sept. 16, in which she inaccurately said the attack had grown out of a spontaneous protest. Read More »

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Washington Wire is one of the oldest standing features in American journalism. Since the Wire launched on Sept. 20, 1940, the Journal has offered readers an informal look at the capital. Now online, the Wire provides a succession of glimpses at what’s happening behind hot stories and warnings of what to watch for in the days ahead. The Wire is led by Reid J. Epstein, with contributions from the rest of the bureau. Washington Wire now also includes Think Tank, our home for outside analysis from policy and political thinkers.